Ray Palmer
| type = | race = | gender = | base of operations = Ivy Town, Connecticut | known relatives = Jean Loring Ex-wife; Also known as Eclipso; Deceased. | status = | born = | died = | 1st appearance = ''Showcase'' #34 | final appearance = | actor = }} Raymond "Ray" Palmer is a fictional comic book superhero who goes by the code name of The Atom. He is featured in titles published by DC Comics and first appeared in ''Showcase'' #34 in September-October, 1961 in a story called "Birth of the Atom!". The character went on to helm his own ongoing series, The Atom, which eventually spun-out into a team-up book, Atom and Hawkman. He was also featured in a four-issue mini-series, Sword of the Atom, as well another ongoing series Power of the Atom. The character has been a member of the Justice League of America and the leader of the second iteration of the Teen Titans. He was also a pivotal character in the DC crossover event known as "Countdown". The Atom has also appeared in alternate media including animated and live-action projects. He made appearances in the Super Friends family of programs by Hanna-Barbera Productions in the 1970s, as well as episodes of Justice League Unlimited in the 2000s. In 2014, the Atom made the leap to live-action as a recurring character on the CW Network television series Arrow, where he was played by Brandon Routh. This version of the character spun-out into another series where he took on a larger role in Legends of Tomorrow. Biography Origin Ray Palmer discovered fragments of a white dwarf star. He fashioned the pieces into lenses and discovered that they could shrink matter. However, the matter only remained stable for an hour before exploding. While taking some children on a hiking trip, a cave-in trapped them all underground. Ray was forced to turn the radiation from the lenses on himself to shrink down small enough to find and opening and save them. He discovered that something about his own biology kept the white dwarf material stable. Showcase #34; September-October, 1961; "Birth of the Atom!" Ray Palmer fashioned the white-dwarf lenses into a belt. He created a blue and red costume for himself and became the Atom for the first time. Showcase #34; September-October, 1961; "Battle of the Tiny Titans!" Solo adventures Ray learned from Jean Loring that one of her clients, Gordon Doolin, had inherited a vast fortune and an estate from the Heath family, but was reluctant to settle into the manor house out of fear of a curse. The Atom looked into these cases of strange spectral phenomena and found that it was actually the work of the family groundskeeper who was trying to kill Gordon Doolin. The Atom difused a bomb concealed inside of a globe and exposed the groundskeeper. Showcase #35; November, 1961; "The Dooms from Beyond!" The Justice League Amos Fortune used a device to give all of the members of the Justice League of America amnesia. He then set the amnesiac League members against various foes, believing that they would be easy prey. The Atom found himself involved in this debacle and even survived Amos Fortune's giant bowling alley trap. He aided the heroes in restoring their memory, after which they were able to defeat the assembled villains. Grateful for the assist, the super-heroes voted unanimously to induct the Atom into the Justice League of America. Justice League of America, Volume 1 #14; September, 1962; "The Menace of the Atom Bomb!" Powers * Size alteration: By adjusting the controls on his belt, Ray Palmer can expose himself to radiation from a piece of white dwarf star matter that enables him to reduce his size to a mere six-inches in height. This was his standard reduced height, but he could actually make himself even smaller if the situation required it, even reducing himself to the sub-atomic level. A great application of this is that the Atom could travel at great speeds by piggy-backing himself on communication signals and riding the current through telephone lines. * Mass preservation: When the Atom reduces his size, he maintains the mass and density he possesses at full size. This is a great benefit as it enables him to strike a blow with the force and pressure of a fully-grown adult while still at a reduced size. :* Super-leaping: The Atom does not possess super-leaping exactly, but as an application of his density preservation, he can propel his body with the same force and velocity granted from his full size. Skills * Physics * Hand-to-Hand Combat * Swordsmanship Equipment * White dwarf star: * Bio-belt: Notes & Trivia * * Atom (Ray Palmer) redirects to this page. * Ray Palmer is the second DC Comics superhero to go by the code name of the Atom. The first was Al Pratt, who was a Golden Age hero introduced in ''All-American Comics'' #19 in October, 1940. Aside from an easy to remember code name, the two have almost nothing in common. * Ray Palmer is the fifth mainstream DC Comics superhero who was introduced during the Silver Age era of publishing after Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Green Lantern and Hawkman. Other mainstay heroes at this time, including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and even Superboy, were all introduced during the Golden Age era. * The Atom became a member of the Justice League of America in ''Justice League of America'', Volume 1 #14 in September, 1962. He remained with the group throughout most of the Silver and Bronze Age eras and left with issue #227 in June, 1984. * The Atom appeared as a back-up feature in ''Action Comics'' from issues #404-408. He also had recurring features from issue #425 to 454, but did not appear in every issue. * The Atom's counterpart in Marvel Comics continuity is Ant-Man. The original Ant-Man, Hank Pym possessed the size alteration abilities as the Atom, but did not maintain his adult form mass and density. He could however, talk to Ants, which, as everybody knows, is a valuable resource when... uhh... raiding picnics. Or something. Oddly, the character that appears in the 2015 feature film version of Ant-Man did possess the ability to maintain his adult strength level in miniature form. * Ray Palmer proposed to Jean Loring in ''The Atom'' #26. Appearances * Atom 26 External Links * * * The Atom at Wikipedia * * * References Category:Articles Category:Characters Category:Justice League of America/Members Category:Teen Titans/Members Category:Suicide Squad/Members Category:Scientists Category:Physics Category:Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced) Category:Challengers from Beyond/Members Category:Swordsmanship Category:Pat Harrington, Jr./Characters Category:Brandon Routh/Characters Category:Atom